Today the dogs weigh me down.
I think how nice it would be
to walk alone
without competing agendas.
We walk for a full block in harmony.
Then one stops, digs in her heels to sniff the grass
the other keeps walking
I pulled taut between them.
Three creatures vying for control.
I win only
because I'm biggest and strongest.
Today the fact that the dog walker
tied a series of knots in my dog's leash
two years ago
is a fresh source of annoyance.
And the dirt or
possibly dried shit
at the foot of my white comforter.
And the pile of unwashed dishes
waiting in the sink,
and counter tops unclean with
crumbs and spills.
Just the thought of them
exhausts me.
Yesterday it was the neighbor
who brings his Rhodesian Ridgebacks
unleashed to my front yard
as though it were a city park
to do their doody.
The day before it was
a lover's waning interest.
I feel the muscles
knotting between my shoulder blades.
We walk past a garden box with
unplucked cabbage
now of gargantuan proportions.
If all the people disappeared
would the cabbage spread out and run rampant?
Would it shelter 'neath the rhododendrons
or overpower them?
This waning moon
is taking its toll.
